One of the perks of playing in a postseason bowl game is the extra practice afforded to a team. For a young and inexperienced team like Texas A&M, that extra practice time is fortunate indeed.

Like many coaches across that nation that aren't preparing for a national championship, A&M head coach Mike Sherman is diligently getting more reps for his youngsters in preparation for the future. But Sherman also has the Independence Bowl against Georgia in Shreveport on Dec. 28 on his mind, and as the date gets closer his team will be focusing more and more on the Bulldogs.

"As we get into this week and the ensuing week half the practice is dedicated to just going against each other and competing with the speed of the game at a high level and competitive-type drills, and the other half of practice is relegated to our preparations for Georgia," Sherman said. "The closer we get the more it leans towards Georgia. I think you have to be careful because you don't want to peak too soon or talk about it too long. It's got to be a special feeling when you're getting ready to play in a bowl game. Once we get up to Shreveport it'll pretty much be about 80-percent Georgia and 20-percent just competing against each other to keep the speed of the game alive."

With the Aggies heading to Shreveport today, Georgia will definitely be on their minds in practice. But over the past few weeks in College Station, the Aggies have been working on fundamentals and getting themselves better.

For the Aggie players, it's been a lot like what they experience in spring drills.

"It just kind of gets you ahead for next year. Obviously this is a cap off from the end of last year, but what it does is it kind of sets the standard for next year," said A&M sophomore safety Trent Hunter. "Obviously you want to grow every year record-wise and how much you want to get better every year, and this is a step ahead from last year. Hopefully next year we can add onto these practices. It's like an extra two weeks of spring ball, and spring ball is one of the most important times of the year."